Rudy Giuliani

Trump's moment of truth

Responding to questions from Robert Mueller is President Trump’s literal moment of truth.

Why it matters: Over his decades in public life, Trump has faced scant — if any — serious consequences for saying things that are not true. However, right now, in putting together his answers for the special counsel, that all changes.

"My lawyers aren’t working on that. I’m working on that. I write the answers. My lawyers don’t write answers; I write answers."

"I was asked a series of questions. I’ve answered them very easily. Very easily. I’m sure they’re tricked up, because, you know, they like to catch people — 'Gee, you know, was the weather sunny or was it rainy?' 'He said it may have been a good day; it was rainy, therefore he told a lie. He perjured himself.'"

"OK? So you have to always be careful when you answer questions with people that probably have bad intentions."

It’s evident that Trump is acutely aware of the high price he would pay if he lies to the special counsel. His concern about that is entirely grounded in fact, and that’s why the process has dragged on for many months.

We don't know what Trump has written as answers to these questions. But it’s hard to imagine Trump would tell Mueller anything that would incriminate himself or his family. Without direct knowledge of the contents of his answers, we feel on safe ground saying Trump isn’t handing Mueller any huge bombshells.

More than anything, for Trump, answering these questions — even though it’s in written form, and even though it dragged on — appears to be acquiescing to the legitimacy of the special counsel.

Once that letter gets sent, Trump will have accepted, in act if not in words, that Mueller is running a serious and important investigation, and that it behooves powerful people to give Mueller what he wants.

Between the lines: Rudy Giuliani told The Washington Post that Trump is only answering questions about events prior to his election. If that’s true, it would indicate a certain level of success for the president’s legal team in evading cooperation with inquiries into potential obstruction of justice.

That said, it’s still a concession on the part of the White House to give answers from the president to Mueller.

Trump's conservative media comfort trap

Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios

Conservative media pose a surprising risk to the Trump administration.

Why it matters: While outlets like Fox News' opinion programs provide unstintingly positive coverage of his administration, close presidential advisers and White House officials, as well as the president himself, often lose their inhibitions and make damaging comments when they speak with friendly outlets.

Trump fell into the conservative media trap again this week while speaking with The Daily Caller, a conservative site that generally gives him glowing coverage.

A Daily Caller reporter threw Trump a seemingly harmless open-ended question, saying the president seemed happy with his acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker. After saying a few nice things about Whitaker, Trump launched into an anti-Mueller diatribe: "I'm concerned this is an investigation that should have never been brought. ... It’s an illegal investigation."

According to thetranscript, the Daily Caller had not brought up the special counsel.

The bottom line: The president clearly makes a strong connection between Whitaker's installation at the Justice Department and the Mueller investigation.

If Whitaker is ever nominated for a Senate-confirmed post, he should expect Democrats to bring up these comments as evidence the president sees him as a political battering ram.

Between the lines: As the New York Times' Maggie Haberman tweeted, "in days with different staff, aides generally kept Trump from doing conservative media interviews because he gets comfortable and says ... things like he says here."

The backdrop ... Conservative media have caused unexpected problems for Trump since the first days of his administration:

Rudy Giuliani opened a legal Pandora's box by telling Fox News' "Judge Jeanine" Pirro that the travel ban grew out of the president's campaign promise to ban Muslims from coming to the United States. (Lawsuits against the travel ban cited Giuliani's comments, and he later issued a court filing walking them back.)

The president breezed into an awkward admission on "Fox & Friends" earlier this year when he said Michael Cohen represented him "with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal." (Trump had previously denied knowing about Cohen’s hush-money payment to the porn star.)

And Trump caused a minor international incident after a July interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Carlson pressed Trump on the wisdom of NATO's expanded membership, given NATO's Article 5 requires that NATO members come to the aid of any member country being attacked.

Carlson posed a hypothetical question: "Why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack?" Trump's answer threw into doubt whether the U.S. would defend Montenegro, saying that the Montenegrins were "very aggressive people" and that their membership in NATO could result in "World War III."

Be smart: Conservative outlets often get well-deserved criticism for carrying water for the White House. But from time to time, they also cause headaches.